Just how grand is that landscape anyway?

Are those mountains in the distance some of New Hampshire’s tallest, or just a few small hills? Without anything in the photo to provide a reference of scale it’s really hard to say for sure.

So what’s a photographer to do?

Simple, by incorporating something of a known size, like a person or a building into your photos you’re more easily able to give viewers a sense of scale in your image.

The fly fisherman standing in his canoe helps to give an idea of just how tall the granite cliffs along the shore of Stonehouse Pond are. (Can’t see him? Click on the image to see a larger version and look for the fisherman along the far shore towards the right side of the image).

Mt. Washington is the tallest peak in the northeast. Having my friend Glen, seen here taking a break on our way to the summit last July, gives an idea of just how big the mountain is. And how much farther we have to go before we reach the summit.

Here’s another shot of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, (the peak in the center of the frame), shown with the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Joe Dodge Lodge in the lower foreground. The lodge, the cars in the parking lot, as well as the roadway all provide scale to the mountains looming over them.

People and buildings aren’t the only thing to use to give a sense of scale. Anything of a commonly known size will work.

For more interpretations of this weeks Weekly Photo Challenge, click HERE.